Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.
Therese Of LisieuxRead
My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by experience.
Interpretation
Prayer and sacrifice are powerful tools for changing hearts and influencing others.
In this quote, Therese of Lisieux expresses the belief that genuine compassion, demonstrated through prayer and selflessness, holds immense power. She emphasizes that these spiritual practices surpass mere words in their ability to affect the hearts of others, drawing from her own experiences to advocate for their transformative efficacy in relationships and personal connections.
In practice
During a community meeting about charity work, one might share this quote to inspire volunteers.
Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.
I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused.
You heard me, only Friend whom I love. To ravish my heart, you became man. You shed your blood, what a supreme mystery!... And you still live for me on the Altar. If I cannot see the brilliance of your Face Or hear your sweet voice, O my God, I can live by your grace, I can rest on your Sacred Heart!
Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident - in the most audacious way - in His Fatherly goodness.
The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks.
Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs - everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well.
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.
The person I am now, compared with the person in the dream, has been baffled and defeated and only supposes he enjoys a full life. In the dreams, I see what a full life really consists of, and it is not what I really have.
These days everyone was insisting on their identity, coming out as a man, woman, gay, black, Jew - brandishing whichever features they could claim, as if without a tag they wouldnβt be human.
The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire
Everyone has a story; everyone hides his past as a means of self-preservation. Some just do it better, and more thoroughly, than others.
Quite often I can be in a bookshop, standing beneath a great big picture of myself and paying for a book with a credit card clearly marked John Grisham, yet no one recognises me. I often say I'm a famous author in a country where no one reads.
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